Pierce Auditor Julie Anderson announces bid for Secretary of State as nonpartisan
Julie Anderson wants to be Washington’s next Secretary of State. The Pierce County Auditor announced Wednesday her bid to replace former Secretary of State Kim Wyman, who left the post to take a job in the Biden Administration.
Anderson said she is running as a nonpartisan candidate and is not beholden to any political party.
“Elections might be partisan, but those who administer them shouldn’t be,” Anderson said in a press release..
Gov. Jay Inslee appointed State Sen. Steve Hobbs, a Lake Stevens Democrat, to fill the seat until the general election decides the new secretary in November 2022. That election is preceded by a primary, which will advance the two top vote-getters.
State Sen. Keith Wagoner, a Republican from the 39th District, announced his candidacy for the job in early December. Hobbs has also said he’ll run for the job.
Anderson, 57, was first elected auditor in 2009. The most visible part of her job is overseeing elections. She is serving her third and final term due to term limitations.
“I’d run for Secretary even if my term wasn’t ending,” she said.
Anderson praised the state’s voting system in her announcement.
“However, our elections and those who run them are under pressure and scrutiny across the nation,” she said. “Washington state is no exception.”
Anderson served as an at-large Tacoma City Council member from 2004-2009. She also served as executive director of the YWCA of Tacoma-Pierce County.
Wyman, a Republican, is now serving as the election security lead for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Pierce Auditor Julie Anderson announces bid for Secretary of State as nonpartisan."
